A few weeks ago, I explained why I felt everyone should own at least one piece of original art. You can read that here. This week’s week topic may seem to be contradictory, but I don’t think it is. Read on and decide for yourself! So what, you may ask, is a derivative? If you google derivative, you will likely find an incomprehensible description of some financial contract. That is not what I am talking about. The definition I was looking for I found under “derivative work” in Wikipedia and reads “is an expressive creation that includes major copyrightable elements of an original, previously created first work”. Still not very clear, so I will give you my own definition: “a product which is decorated with a reproduction of an original piece of art”. So, a cushion, a cup, a towel, a wall hanging (canvas, wood, paper), etc., on which an image of original artwork has been applied by some mechanical means. Definitely NOT an original. You may or may not know that, in addition to original artwork, I offer derivatives, also known as print-on-demand products through my website. Although I really do want everyone to own at least one piece of original art, there are several reasons for this apparent contradiction:
You can probably think of others, but those are some of the reasons why you might want to consider getting a “derivative” rather than an original. The “magic” of the original is obviously not present in the copy, but sometimes practicality surpasses magic! I will be taking a few weeks off starting next week, and I will be sharing some of my older blog posts for the next few weeks. I hope you and your loved ones have a very happy, peaceful, healthy, and restful Christmas season. I will return with new and hopefully interesting topics to share with you in 2022! Suggestions are always appreciated!
0 Comments
Unless you are younger than about 35, there is a good chance you heard Ethel Merman’s voice booming out when you were reading that title! She was never one of my favorites, but she sure made that song famous! I prefer Harry Connick Jr’s version myself. Check them both out on Youtube. Once you finish reading this blog, of course! This seems to be the season of Art Shows! At the moment, I have art hanging in three different locations, and I will be adding another today, another next week, as well as another temporary show on the weekend. Last week I received the awesome news that a small painting of mine that was part of one of the ongoing shows was sold! I think that is the first time I have sold art without actually being there! What a thrill! Later today I will be attending a vernissage at a cultural center that I joined this year. One of my five-year goals is to have a solo show in a local gallery or museum. This one is a small cultural center, located in a beautiful spot on the river, in an area that used to be a manufacturing, blue-collar town and which is now part of the larger city near where I live. It is a relatively new building and houses some very nice exhibition spaces. It is not well known and is working hard to change that. The show which starts today is of works by members of the cultural center. It is titled “Noir et Blanc”. I just about fell out of my chair when I saw the call for submissions a few months ago, as I was in the process of preparing a submission for a solo show and, you guessed it, that was the exact title and theme I was working on! I was devastated! All that work preparing first the concept, then the art, then the submission documents, down the drain! And of course, even though I am fascinated with back and white and have painted several pieces in various media, now I wouldn’t be able to present a similarly themed exhibition anywhere in this area for several years without being considered a copycat. Even if I had the idea first! Thankfully, I had also been working on an “alternate project” (that was actually its name at the time) so I forgot about the Black & White project and worked on the other one. Unfortunately, the “alternate project” was rejected when I submitted it, but I am not done with that one! I believe it is a great project, and it would have really been well suited for this particular location. It is original, and fun, and I will find a venue for it, just give me time! I am anxious to see the artwork in this Noir et Blanc exhibition. It should be interesting to see how different artists, using different media, have interpreted the Black and White theme. I will also be making an effort to network with local artists. This will be the first chance for me to put into practice a lot of the networking techniques I have been reading about during Covid lockdowns. I am not a naturally outgoing person, so it isn’t easy for me. I much prefer to communicate in writing; it is so easy, you can pause and think or look up just the right word, or go back and edit something that came out wrong. But I have learned a lot about the importance and value of connecting face to face with people, and hopefully, some of it will manifest itself at the right time! This weekend is another show I have been preparing for a few weeks now. It is a Christmas Market so there will be lots of vendors that are not artists. It is my first such participation so I have low expectations. I just hope I will come back with fewer items than I brought and that more people will know that I exist! And you never know who you will meet! If you are reading this blog, you probably like art. And even if you landed here totally by accident, you probably own some form of art. But is it original art or a reproduction? And how do you tell? If you already know the answer, you may not learn anything new here today. But if you’re not sure, read on! The first clue about whether or not the art is original is where you buy it. If it is directly from the artist, or in a reputable gallery, chances are it is original. And you can always ask. If it is in a home or renovation store (Home Depot, Winners, etc.) it is no doubt a reproduction. And even if it may look like the surface has brushstrokes on it, the fact that there is a whole stack of the same painting for sale is a dead giveaway! If it is in the secondary market, i.e. it is being resold, it could be either. Who hasn’t seen an episode of the Antiques Road Show where a flea market find has turned out to be an original oil painting by some obscure but still valuable artist? You may be wondering what exactly is meant by “original” and “reproduction”. To confuse matters, whereas it is actually an art form in its own right, the word “print” is now being commonly used to designate both originals and reproductions! An original work of art is a piece in which the artist has had direct input. I give that vague description because the artwork could be designed by the artist but actually produced by his “atelier”. An original work of art is usually one-of-a-kind. There may be several similar copies of the design, but each one was produced by the artist, not by someone copying or imitating the design. For example, a limited edition print will be similar to the other prints in the edition, but each one will have a unique number, like “1 of 10”, usually hand-written, and may also be signed a second time by the artist. Limited editions are called limited because there is a finite number of them in circulation, and although less valuable than the original artwork from which they were made, they can go up in value. Open editions, on the other hand, although usually very inexpensive to purchase, will never go up in value, as unlimited quantities more can be printed whenever needed, usually by mechanical means. A term that has crept into the art vocabulary in the last few years is “giclée”. It sounds so fancy, but it in fact is nothing more than a frenchified word for “ink jet”. It is not a medium used for producing original art, it is a printing (reproduction) technique and can be done on paper, wood or canvas. Don’t be fooled! I recently saw a few art pieces showing in the same space as original art, where the medium was listed as “Giclée (Oil)” and where the artist was selling this mechanical reproduction for as much as others were selling original works. Very deceptive in my opinion! So what is wrong with reproductions? Nothing, really, as long as you know that is what you are getting. If your artwork’s purpose is strictly decorative, then reproductions can do the job, and in some rooms, such as kitchens and bathrooms, they may actually be a smarter choice than originals! You can swap them out when you change up your decor and not worry about having spent too much. Just don’t expect to be able to sell them for anywhere near what you paid. If you don’t believe me, check the quantities of decorative art for sale on Kijiji or Marketplace. People are literally giving it away. And actually, you can occasionally pick up some original art there for not a whole lot of money! Rarely is it good, but it is original! Original art is more expensive than comparably sized reproductions. But it is original. No one else will have this picture on their walls. People will notice and ask you about the art, and you will have a story to tell about how you met the artist, or how you found it at a garage sale! Because you chose it, it will tell people something about you. And every time you look at it, the art piece will remind you of how you felt when you first saw it, so make sure you buy only original art that you love. I strongly believe that everyone should own at least one piece of original art. There is magic in knowing that you share a connection through time and space with another human being, who first thought up then created this very piece of art, held it in his or her hands, looked down at it for hours, perhaps days or weeks, stroking its surface with brushes or pens or sculpting tools, deciding what went where, and struggled with it until it was done. Just for you! So what is my message? Buying reproductions is easy. Buying original art is harder, but it can also be much more rewarding. Do your research, because when something seems too good to be true, it usually is. Visit a lot of art shows and don’t expect to like everything you see there. Figure out what you do like. Don’t be in a hurry to buy, but don’t regret not having bought that art piece that called out to you when you first saw it. If possible, buy directly from an artist. Visit their studio and see where the sausage is made. It will only add to the story you tell your friends and make you a patron of the arts! In a few weeks, I will be participating in a local Christmas Market, more specifically the weekend of November 20-21. It will be my first participation in this market which has been running for several years now. At the same time, one of the art groups I belong to is calling their current show, which runs from this week to the beginning of January, “Marché de Noël”. We received a small pamphlet in the mail this week promoting more than a dozen “Christmas Markets” that will take place in the electoral riding of our local member of parliament. So apparently Christmas Markets are a big thing now! But when did that happen? They certainly weren’t popular when I was growing up, or even when my children were small! Come with me and discover a bit of the history behind the Christmas Market! According to Wikipedia, Christmas Markets (I will call them CMs from now on if you don’t mind!) originated in Germany, and date back to the Late Middle Ages. They are traditionally held outdoors during the period leading to Christmas, or Advent, and they consist of booths or stalls offering foods and drinks such as mulled wine, cookies, candied nuts, sausages, etc. as well as traditional singing and dancing. A CM also often has a Nativity scene, crafts and artisans, Christmas decorations, and seasonal items for sale. One thing that is not mentioned in the article, but that is obvious from all the photos I have seen, is that most CMs happen in the dark, which isn’t really that difficult in northern climates in November and December!! The stalls are all lit up with lovely lights, giving the CM a very festive look! Some of the more popular CMs, such as those held in Dresden (considered to have held the first true Christmas Market in 1434), Stuttgart, Frankfurt, and Nuremberg, each attract millions of visitors per year. CMs are not only popular in Germany. Austria also holds several CMs including those of Vienna and Innsbruck, and Alsace has held a CM in Strasbourg since 1570! Spain has held a CM in Barcelona since 1786, and a relatively late entry into the Christmas Market market is England, where the first CM was in Lincoln in 1982. If you wish to read a more detailed account, here is a link to the full article. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_market But when did the CM become popular in Canada or Quebec? This turned out to be a lot harder to find out! I visited a lot of Christmas Market websites, but few of them seem to care much about their historical roots! I found out that the Kitchener "Christkndl Market" started in 1996 and that the one in Montreal is only about 5 years old. Some sources say the first CM in Quebec was in Joliette in 2007. Others credit Agathe Sauriol from L’Assomption for being a pioneer of the European tradition here, but they had their first market in 2009. One thing is clear, there is not much information on how they got started, and they are a very recent addition to Québécois traditions! This does not prevent them from having spread like wildfire, so much that there is even a Quebec association of Christmas Markets to help promote them! http://www.lesmarchesdenoelduquebec.com/Regroupement/ They have even produced a map to help you locate them! The Marché de Noël that I will be participating in is not the traditional type. It is held indoors, for one, which makes it a lot more comfortable for both visitors and stallholders, even if we will all have to be masked! I don’t know if there will be mulled wine, but I hope you will come by and say hello! If you live near Sherbrooke, there is a Christmas Market at the Marché de la Gare every weekend from November 27 to December 19, and if you wish to experience the more traditional German-style Christmas Market, there is one held in Quebec City starting November 25! https://www.quebec-cite.com/en/what-to-do-quebec-city/events/german-christmas-market |
AuthorMy name is Claire Bureau. Archives
March 2023
Categories
All
|